Sociedad Loss Was the Worst Kind of Defeat but Atletico Madrid Can't Dwell on It
Defeats happen.
They happen both in football and in life. They happen when you might be thinking you’re safe from them, only for an ugly head to rear up from the bushes and shock you. They’re pretty much unavoidable.
And in football terms, defeats are the worst thing imaginable. But do you know what’s even worse? Defeats before an international break.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
Oh, those are the worst defeats.
They are defeats that make you question anything and everything about the way you’ve set up, the players you’ve picked, the transfers you’ve overseen, the game plan you’ve laid out. And they do that for two whole weeks, whether you are a manager or a fan.
Those defeats can be utterly soul-destroying, especially when you know you’ve underperformed and not carried out the plan that was set mere hours before.
All of that means you don’t need telling what’s going on in Diego Simeone’s mind right now.
The Atletico Madrid manager will be angry. So, so angry he’ll be pacing the corridors in his home and wishing he had an immediate chance to put things right. He’ll be wondering but also worrying about what comes next.
Atletico were poor on Saturday against Real Sociedad.
With the eyes of La Liga and beyond on them, and the question over whether they can sustain a credible title challenge hanging in the air, this was a test. And it was one they flunked.
Real Madrid and Barcelona don’t play until Sunday. There was a chance to make a statement and kick a title challenge forward on Saturday, but Atletico instead lost 2-0.
It could easily have been more.
They simply weren’t at the races at Anoeta, conceding two penalties and never looking their true selves.
Things would have been different had a fine chipped effort from Kevin Gameiro found the back of the net instead of striking the post in the first half, but in truth, that was pretty much all of the threat the visitors carried on what became a forgettable day for them.
Simeone was certainly in a realistic mood after the game, saying in his press conference:
"We played a great first half with important chances to score, especially the one from Gameiro. You could see in the game that the team was doing well.
In the second half, Real Sociedad started better and from the first penalty the team could not find the way to tie. We will try to continue improving and we congratulate the rival.
"
Elaborating on the performances of Gameiro and ex-La Real player Antoine Griezmann, he continued: "We depend on the team, not on the goals of a player. It’s true that it’s getting hard for us in the away matches.
"We never look for excuses. The rival prepared itself very well and played a great second half. They deserve great credit for their victory."
And that—plus the comment from Saul Niguez in the tweet above—is pretty much all that needs to be said about the game. It was painful for Atletico to take simply because they were so far removed from where they normally are.
The usual passion and fight and quality on the ball simply weren't in evidence in the Basque Country, with perhaps the effort that went in to beating FC Rostov in the Champions League on Tuesday to blame for what was a curious display.
The only thing for Simeone and his players to do is simply take their medicine, head off to their various destinations and then look ahead to what is to come. Thankfully, what is to come is fairly noticeable.
Because the Madrid derby lies in wait on the other side of this international break, and should Real win on Sunday, they would open up a nine-point gap on their rivals with a victory against their local rivals.
Surely that is motivation enough for Simeone to look at the fixture with that infamous glare of his and to spent two weeks preparing for the challenge and telling himself that he dare not lose this one.
The saving grace is the game will come at the Vicente Calderon, where Atleti have been so good this season and where their title challenge promises to either stand or fall, with the two defeats in their most recent two away games threatening to derail those efforts.
Simeone shouldn’t need to say much about the derby to his players once he waves them off on international duty.
What was once simply a local skirmish in which Atletico would do everything they could to bloody the nose of Real—like a little brother fighting with a bigger, tougher sibling—has become more of a match that matters on a grander scale.
Atletico no longer need the points to be the pride of Madrid, but they need them to fuel a title challenge that has just gone by the wayside a little following back-to-back away losses.
Wins are needed, and quickly, because the pain of a defeat you have to dwell on is not easily forgotten.
Fortunately for pretty much everyone, the upcoming international break is the last one of the year, meaning that relentless, full-throttle club football will become the norm.
That is probably how Atletico Madrid and Simeone like it—and what they need to embrace if this season is to become a memorable one for them.
It still can be; one defeat won’t change that.
It might just focus minds a little more, though, which is no bad thing.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
